Vehicle-spring.



' CHARLES A. LIEB, on NEW YORK, n. Y.

vnriicnn-srniire.

945, 725. Original application Specification of Letters Patent. filed December 10, 1906, Serial No. 347,225. Renewed August 3, 1908, SeiialIN'o.

Patented Jan. 4., 1910:

446,778. Divided and this application filed April 27, 1909. Serial No. 492,525.

in) all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. L nin,;a citizen of the United States, and residing in the borough of Manhattan, city, county, and

newed on August 3rd, 1908 Serial No.

\ "446,77 8, of which the present application is a divisional application. I

I In said above mentioned application, means are illustrated" and described for automatically increasing the strength of a. spring or its resistance to deflection as the spring is'deflected in one or both. directions from its normalpositionf by reason pf in ressure being applied to creaseiweight ore rebound of the latter.

the spring, oF-by The invention is especially applicable when a large increase of weight or pressure is suddenly applied, deflect the spring, and also when such pressure is sud ing member.

My "invention may be applied toa'dvantage in any instance where. it is desired to support a member'upon springs, and it 1s particularly adapted to vehicles of all kinds, whether they run on rails, ascars or loco: motives, or whetherthey are vehiclesrunning on an ordinary road-or street.

In the present application I- have particularly described and covered'by the claims the modifications illustratedin said above application in Figures 5 to 12 inclusive in which deflection is increased by the relative movement ofthespring leaves upon each other the resistance ofthe spring against when the spring is deflected. have illustrated in the accompanying drawings these modifications,ginwh1ch- Fig. 1 1S aside elevation of a semi-elliptical spring attached to a supporting member or beam. F ig. 2 is anenlarged section on line its-av in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a modified form of the yoke shown n Fig. 2. Fig. 4

following is a fulltending to very, quick y enly relieved, to prevent the sudden reaction or rebound of thesupport-l I of an open'yoke closed by a cross bar as is a section on line y-y in Fig. 3. Fig; 5 is another modification of the form shown in Fig. 2. Fig.v 6 is a plan view of the spring shown in Fig. 5, and Fig. 7 is a detail view of the construction shown'in Fig.1.

Fig. 8 is a modification of the structure shown in Fig. 7.

In Fig. l, the support B- is connected with axle 5 asemi elliptical spring S- I comprising the five' leaves 32, 33-36. A yoke 37 surrounds the spring adjacent each end of leaf 34 winch isprovi'dedwith a flaring end 38 to limitlthe movement of the yoke" member. The yoke '37 which illustrated in Fig. 2; -,side elevation largerscale, is

provided with a. bar- 39 held place by 17.0 clamp nuts- 4.0 in the threaded ends of the yoke. Means forfincreasing; the resistance ring leaves-moving upon each 1 other when t e spring is deflected are pro- '75 against the s vided in the form of a resilient member, As

jwill-be seen from'Fig. 2, a block 41 of resilient materialsuchas leather or rubber is provided with a covering plate 42 between the block and leaf 34. The tapered form of the leaves will scrve as an additional means vided with adjusting screw 44 engaging a shown in Fig. 2, a closed'frame 43 is proto increasetheir pressure upon each other produced by the yoke when the spring is dobearing block 44, within which the resilient material46isf disposed. A covering plate 45 tween the resilient material and the springs is likewise interposed as shown in Fig.2,be-

34, 35 and 36; If desired,-the lower portion 47 of frame 43 maybe providedwith an in clined inner face to properly engage the tapering-blades as show'n in Fig. 4.

In Fig. 5, a further slight modification of the form of yoke shown in Fig. 21s illustrated,-which comprises the top and bottom members 48 and 49 havin threadedcends with adjustingv nuts 50 for -aterally adjusting the side members 51 and 5.2 so as to accommodate the yoke to the various widths,

of leaves. The side members 51 and 52 con- 'sist each of two blocks 51 51, 5252-having threaded bores to receive a bolt 53,the ends of which. are oppositely so that by rotating the bolt, the springs on ea eh side 55 in the upper member 48 of the yoke. A spring 54 is illustrated in plan view 1n Fig.

. 6 and it will be seen that in either end of the spring is provided a recessed portion 54* within which the side members 51 and 52 are disposed, so that the spring is prevented from moving laterally in the yoke.

v Instead of having the spring leaf, near the end of which the yoke is clamped to the:

spring, provided with fiaringends, such as are shown at 38 in Figs. 1 and 7, a rivet 56 Y may be provided as shown in Fig. 8 which prevents the yoke from sliding off the end of the leaf. I I v While I-have-shown in the drawings sev eral means for holding the clamping member in lace on the springs, after'they have been a justed, as a feature-for preventing the shiftin in position on the spring, or the slipp' o end-wise of the clamping member, I do not wish to limit myself to these means shown, but I wish to emphasize that such "fixing means, whatever they maybe,

should always form a part of my structureto render itmost effective.

What I claim is 4 1. In combination with'a-vehicle spring comprising a plurality of leaves, a compensating yielding frictional contact regardless of the direction of strain on the spring.

' 2. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a vehicle leaf spring,

hicle body.

adjustable yielding means on said I spring tending to increase the friction of the leaves agalnst each other'to increasethe resistance said spring against m 3. In a device of the c described, in combmatlon with a vehldlefleafspring, a yoke embracing the'leaves of said spring,

against the leaves :within said yoke tending to increase the friction of said leaves against each. other to increase the resistance of said sprmg against movement of the vehicle body, and meansfor adjusting said 5 yielding means.

4,111 .a device ofthe character described,

. incombination with a vehicle leaf spring,

a yoke embracing a} plurality of leaves of said spring, yielding means within said yoke bearing against the leaveswithin said yoke and tending to increase the friction of said leaves against each other to increase the resistance"; of said spring against move- 'mentof the vehiclebody, and means forad ustlng said yielding means.

5. In a device of the character described,

combination with a vehicle leaf spring,

' creasing means in clamp for holding "said leaves in ntsi of the vea yoke embracing a plurality of leaves of said spring, resilient material within'said yoke bearing against the leaves Within-said yoke and tending to increase the friction of said leaves against each other to increase the resistance of said spring against movement of the vehicle body, means for adjusting the pressure of said material against said leaves.

6. In combination with a vehicle spring comprising a plurality of leaves tapered toward their ends, a compensating clamp for holding said leaves in frictional contact,

resilient material ,Within said clamp bearins; against said leaves and tending to increase thefriction' of said leaves when the spring is forced from its normal into compresslon position, said clamp and said re silient means adapted to also hold said leaves in frictional contact when the spring is forced from its normal position into a position contrary tocompression, and means for adjusting the friction of said material.

7., In a device of the character described, in combination with a vehicle leaf spring, adjustable yielding means on said spring tending to increase the friction of the leaves against each other to increase the resistance of said spring against movementof the vehicle body, and means for holding said inlace on'said spring.

8. In a device of the character described, in combination with a vehicle leaf spring, a

.yoke embracing the leaves of said spring, 1 yielding means within said yoke bearing againstthe leaves within saidyoketending to increase the friction of said leaves against each other toincrease the resistance of said spring against movement of the vehicle body, and means for adjusting said yielding means and for holding said yoke in place on said spring after it has been adjusted.

l 9. In a device ofthe character described, in combination with a vehicle leaf spring, a

yo e embracing a. plura'lityof leaves of said yieldmg means within said yoke-bearing g,- yielding means within: said yoke ing against the leaves within said yoke an I tending to increase the friction of said leaves against each other to increasethe rethe vehicle body, an meansfor adjusting said yielding means and for holding said yoke in place on said been adjusted.

10. In a device of the character described,

in combination with a vehicle leafspring, a

spring after it: has

sistance of said sprin against movement of yoke embracing a plurality of leaves. of said spring, -res'ilientmaterial within said yoke bearing against the leaves Within said yoke and tending to increase the friction of said leaves against eachother to increase the re-- sistance of saidjs'pring against movement of the vehicle body, means for adjusting the pressure of saidlmater-ial against said leaves,

and means on one of said leaves for holding said yoke in place on said spring after it'has' been adjusted.

the

ward their ends, a compensating clamp for holding said leaves in frictional contact, re-

si'lient material= withinsaid clamp bearing against said leaves and tending to increase friction of said leaves when the spring I is forced from its normal into compression position, said clamp and said resilient means adapted to also hold said leaves in frictional contact When-the spring is forced from its normal position into a position contrary to compression, and means for adjusting the frictionbf said material and for holding the clamp in position on said leaves. v

. V CHARLES A. LIEB. Witnesses:

H. ALFRED J AUKE,

OOTAVIUS KNIGHrl 

